Sled.



R. E. MILLER.

SLED. APPLICATION FILED JULY 11,1911.

Patented Oct. 15, 1912.

ROBERT E. MILLER, 0F BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

SLED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1912.

Application filed July 11, 1911. Serial No. 637,943.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bethlehem, county of Lehigh, State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and use ful Improvements in Sleds, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawing.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in sledsand more particularly to what is commonly known as hand sleds, theobject being to provide a sled with flexible runners having means forbending said runners laterally at their rear ends in order to steer thesled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sled which isexceedingly simple and cheap in construction and one which is verystrong and durable, the rear end portions of the runners being slidablymounted in respect to the seat of the sled in order to allow the runnersto be bent laterally.

A further object of the invention is to providenovel means for bendingsaid runners laterally whereby the sled can be readily guided in such amanner that it will be under perfect control of, the user.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will behereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by theappended claims.

In the drawingF.igure 1 is an inverted plan view of my improved sledshowing the rear portions of the runners in dotted lines bent laterally;and Fig.2 is a transverse section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Like numerals of reference refer to like parts in the several figures ofthe drawing.

In carrying out my improved invention, I employ a seat 1 which is formedof a series of slats, as clearly shown, mounted oncrossbars 2 which areprovided with handle bars 3 at their ends, said bars being connectedtogether at their ends by a metal bar 4: upon which is mounted asteering bar 5 which can be operated either by hand or by the feet andis preferably formed of the shape shown and is provided with openings toreceive a rope for drawing the sled.

The rear cross-bar 2 is provided with bearing plates 6 which are mountedon a cross bench 7 carried by the laterally extending bearing portionsof substantially inverted U-shaped standards 8 which are fixed to therunners 9 by any suitable means, said runners being preferably formed ofspring steel and having rounded tread surfaces in order to allow thesame to move easily laterally, as will be later described. The forwardcross-bar 2 is supported by standards 10 carried by the runners, saidstandards having inwardly projecting portions forming bearings for thecross-bar, and said standards are pivotally mounted at 11 in order toallow the same to oscillate, the movement of which is limited by a pin12 carried by the cross-bar and extending through a slot 13 formed inthe bearing por tion of the standards.

The cross bench 7, carried by the rear standards, is provided withlongitudinal slots 14 to each side of its center through which extendrivets 15 provided with heads 16 in order to hold the cross-bar inposition on the cross bench in such a manner that the same is free tomove laterally in either direction. By this construction, it will beseen that the cross bench carried by the rear standards is slidablymounted in respect to the seat in order to allow the runners to be bentlaterally by moving the cross bench outwardly in either direction and asthe runners are bent outwardly, the forward stand-- ards oscillate upontheir pivots in order to prevent their twisting whereby the runners arebent in such a manner that all danger of injuring the same is prevented.

For moving the standards in either direction, to bend the runners, Iprovide an operating bar 17 which is pivotally mounted in a slot formedin the central cross-bar as shown at 18 and is provided with an off-setend portion 19 which extends into a keeper 20 secured upon the crossbench 7 between the slots 14 and it will be seen that when saidoperating bar is swung on its pivot, the cross bench will be moved inrespect to the seat.

The operating bar extends through a slot formed in the forward cross barand has pivotally connected to its end a connecting bar 21 which ispreferably formed of a pair of straps which are secured to the upper andlower faces of the steering bar 5 and through which a pivot pin 22passes for mounting the steering bar upon the bar 4 in order to allowthe same to oscillate. The straps forming the connecting bars areconnected together by a pivot pin 23 which extends through a slot 24formed in the forward end of the operating bar 17 in order to allow thesame to move therein when the steering bar is oscillated. Assuming therunners are in their normal position as shown in Fig. 1, by oscillatingthe steering bar 5, the operating bar will be swung 011 its pivot tomove the cross bench laterally which will bend the runners sidewise, asshown in dotted lines, the forward standards swinging on their pivots inorder to allow the runners to bend without twisting the same.

By this construction, a sled is provided that will have many advantagesover sleds of this character now in use which are steered by bending theforward ends of the runners. It will be seen that the forward ends ofthe runners have a fixed connection with the forward ends of the handlebars 9 as clearly shown at 25 and it is, of course, understood that therunners are curved upwardly and are of the ordinary shape now in use.When the steering bar is operated the runners are bent laterally from apoint slightly in advance of the forward standards which causes thestandards to swing on their pivots in order to obtain a gradual bendwhich prevents the dragging effect produced by runners which are bentabruptly from a certain point and thereby overcoming the difficultiesnow existing as the speed of the sled is retarded.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits what I claim anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A sled having flexible runners,a seat mounted thereon, said runners having a fixed connection at theirforward ends, and means for slidably connecting said runners to the seatat their rear ends.

2. A sled having flexible runners, a seat, standards connecting saidseat to said runners adjacent their forward ends, and standards carriedby the rear ends of said runners having a cross bench upon which saidseat is slidably mounted.

3. A sled comprising a seat having crossbars fixed thereto, handle barscarried by said cross-bars, standards pivotally connected' to theforward cross-bars of said seat, standards slidably connected to therear cross-bars of said seat, and flexible runners carried by saidstandards having a fixed connection at their forward ends with thehandle bars.

4. A sled provided with flexible runners, having a fixed connection attheir forward ends, and means for slidably connecting the rear ends ofsaid runners to said sled.

5. A sled comprising a seat having crossbars, handle bars connected tosaid cross bars, runners fixed to the forward end of said handle bars,standards loosely connecting said runners to said cross-bars, and meansfor moving the rear standards lat-erally in respect to the seat.

6. A sled comprising a seat having handle bars, flexible runnersconnected to said handle bars, standards pivotally connecting theforward portions of said runners to said seat, standards slidablyconnecting the rear portions of said runners to said seat, and means formoving the rear standards laterally in respect to the seat.

7. A sled comprising a pair of flexible runners having standards securedthereon, a seat mounted on said standards carrying handle bars to whichthe forward ends of said runners are connected, rear standards having asliding connection with the seat, and means for moving said standardslaterally in respect to the seat.

8. A sled comprising a seat having crossbars, runners provided withstandards, handle bars carried by the cross-bars to which the forwardends of said runners are connected, a cross bench carried by the rearstandards having a sliding connection with the seat, an operating barmounted in one of the cross-bars of the seat having a connection withthe cross bench, and a steering bar having a sliding connection withsaid oper-.

ating bar.

9. In a sled, the combination with a pair of flexible runners havingfixed forward ends and movable rear ends, of standards fixed to saidrunners, a cross bench connected to two of said standards, a seatprovided with cross-bars mounted upon said standards and cross bench,handle bars carried by the cross-bars to which the forward end of saidrunners are connected, and means for,

11. A sled having laterally flexible run-- ners provided with fixedforward ends and movable rear ends, and a pivoted intermediateconnection between the body of the sled andthe runners.

12. A sled comprising a seat having crossbars carrying handle bars, abar connecting the forward ends of said handle bars, runners connectedto the forward ends of said handle bars, standards carried by the rearends of said runners, a cross bench connect- 7 ing said standards havinga sliding connection with the rear cross-bar of said seat, an operatingbar mounted in one of said crossbars having a sliding connection withsaid cross bench, standards carried by said run 13. A sled comprising aseat mounted upon cross-bars provided with handle bars,

a bar connecting the forward ends of said handle bars, a steering barpivotally mounted on said bar, runners connected to the ends of saidhandle bars, standards carried by said runners having a pivotalconnection with the forward cross-bar of said seat, standards secured tothe rear portion of said runners having a cross bench provided withslots upon which the rear cross-bar of said seat is mounted, headedmembers carried by said cross-bar working in said slots, a keepercarried by said cross bench, an operating bar pivotally mounted in thecentral crossbar of said seat extending into said keeper, and aconnection between the forward end of said operating bar and saidsteering bar.

14. A sled comprising a pair of flexible runners carrying standards, aseat mounted upon said standards having a fixed connection with theforward end of said runners and a movable connection with the rearstandards and a pivotal connection with the intermediate standards, anoperating bar for moving said rear standards laterally, and a steeringbar connected to said operating bar.

15. A sled comprising flexible runners and a seat mounted thereon, saidseat having a fixed connection at its forward end and a slidableconnection at its rear end, and

means mounted upon the body of the sled for flexing the rear ends ofsaid runners laterally.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT E. MILLER.

Witnesses:

F. J. Hum, VIcToR D. TRAUGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents.

, Washington, I). G.

